Cindy Peress Magic Of Music CD

I arrived in Amsterdam, in early March, 1979. It was as if I had come home. The life here was a completely different pace than I had experienced in New York, or the United States for that matter. In those first years, I met some of the local heroes of the time...Herman Brood and his Wild Romance (Danny Lademacher, Cees Meerman, Freddie Cavalli) Harry Hartholt, (Houseband) The Lau, (the Scene) Hans Waterman (Solution), and so many others who were then very active in the music scene way back when. Some of these people are still friends, but time moves on and so do people, moving in and out of ones' life...... In 1980 I made my first single "The Shady Side of Town" with Hubert Bredt (Bass), Harrie Hardholt (Guitar) and Dennis Whitbread (drums). In 1985 "Caught by Surprise" with again Harrie Hardholt and Bas Eble. I did many support acts, for Bands like the Grateful Dead, Solution, Van Morrison, Joan Armatrading, Melonie, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Richie Havens, Ten Years After, and so many others, I really cannot remember. In 1987, I hooked up with Tom Agterberg (bass) and together we played all over Europe, Festivals like Roskilde and so many others that I have now forgotton most of them. I was never very good at keeping a scrapbook. Tom & I recorded Two LP length Cassettes "She'll never Forget" and "Cindy Peress and the Big Sky Rhythm Devils".In 1990 I got a thing happening with Shamrock Records in Austria. Tom and I then recorded a cd single, "Somewhere in Switzerland" with Henri from Himalaya studios. We had Joolz Hodgson playing guitar in those days. He was from Leeds and very loud. It was 1991, Tom was gone (serious trauma) and I had a band happening with Gerard Bouwmeester (drums). In those days there was a another great band around town, called "Men without Heads" with Calder Spanier on Sax, and Lorentz Persson on Trombone. It was then that I recorded "The World is Watching", with those two guys making fabulous horn arrangements. With different guests such as Mike Wilson, Dirk Scheele and Dominic Sprenger, all on lead guitar, Tom Lyne & Morgen Pugh played some bass parts, & we made an interesting mozaic of music. Time marched on as it does, and somewhere soon after that CD was released, I met Alen Svetopetric, who played bass with me from 1993 until about 2001. Together with Gerard we started a project in 1996 that was finally released in 2000. That was the CD "The Magic of Music". For myself it was a truly magical happening and the development of my musical self. We had many guests playing on this CD. Like Vinnie Fazarri, Fay Lovsky and Leo Bouwmeester.In 2000, the band consisted of Jimmy Griego, Alen Svetopetric, Wil Sophie and myself. We played a lot of fab gigs, and with this band, played some of the nice festivals in Holland. (Bospop, Culembourg Blues, Texel Blues). It is not easy to get to a commercial level, especially when music is coming from a free spiritual place. In 2001 I had to stop playing because of a physical illness, called Carpel Tunnel Syndrome, it is a nervous disorder that affects the hands and from 2001 to 2004 I had to recover from two operations. In the meantime, I picked up playing the piano and discovered a new side of myself and I am out again playing and have a brand new band...... You can see them here on the website. I hope to see all of you at one of my next concerts, feel free to write and ask any questions.... and anybody wanting to add a piece of history that I may have forgotten, please do so. Send me an e-mail! Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed reading this short summary of a long and still ongoing musical tale.......